Villains save the world
by numbuh 422
Summary: When a new villain with a ray that can turn heroes evil threatens Vestal and Earth the Vexos and Masquerade must step up to save the world. Will they even bother to try? Or will they kill each other first?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay I'm finally writing this story. As you probably got from the summary it's about the heroes being turned into villains and the still evil villains having to save the world. Anyway enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own bakugan**

"Yes,my beautiful ray thing. It's perfect! With it I will turn all the heroes into villains and rule the world!" _This was the statement an evil man made as he finished up the beam that he would use on all of the battle brawlers and the bakugan brawlers resistance. Once he had hit them who would be around to stop him? But as he carried out this plan and turned all the heroes evil, little did he know an unlikely team of new heroes would rise to save the world..._

"Shadow if you throw one more fork I swear I will-"

"Give me back my yogurt!" Lync screamed as the crazed darkus brawler continued to run from Lync with his precious yogurt.

Volt sat back in a chair and watched the chaos unfold as he casually flipped through a magazine idly wondering what was for dinner and how many injuries would occur today.

_Or not. They're doomed._

Earlier Mylene had been trying to watch some tv, but it was ill-fated from the start. They got suprisingly few channels and besides that she lived with Shadow, Lync and all the other Vexos. She never got a moments peace. Spectra and Gus were surely scheming somewhere, which was mildy concerning, but didn't really bother her at the moment. Volt was boring as ever reading some cooking magazine. The real trouble were the darkus and ventus brawlers of the group.

"Mylene I've got a fun new game!" Shadow bounded into the room and plopped down in front of the tv. He was clutching a large number of forks in one hand and a yogurt in the other.

Then Lync ran in screaming at the top of his lungs. It all went downhill from there. Pretty soon forks were being imbedded in nearby furniture and a few unfortunate people, yogurt was covering everything, and there were chunks out of furniture. All of this was accompanied by screams and psycho laughs. Eventually the noise alerted Spectra and he and Gus hurried down to check out the scene.

Spectra felt a migrane developing as soon as he stepped in the room.

Shadow was hanging from an obviously very strong lamp on the ceiling whilst hurling forks. Lync was futiley jumping up in an attempt at the yogurt cup now stuck to the ceiling. Mylene was glaring disapprovingly at everyone and trying to get Shadow down, not to mention to stop throwing forks. Even Volt was out of the chair and appeared to be looking for something, that would later be revealed to be the missing pieces of the furniture.

"Everybody shut up!"

The vexos turned to look at their leader.

"I just recieved a very important text message-"

"What? Someone finally friended you on FaceBook besides Gus?" Lync sniped. Shadow laughed in agreement as he dropped down from the ceiling with the grace of an elephant on drugs.

"No I believe it was your mother wondering when you would reach four feet." Spectra retorted, "In any event our dear friend Masquerade sent me this."

"Wait. Who's this Masquerade?" Mylene asked.

Volt and Lync nodded also wondering, Shadow was to busy trying to jump for the yogurt.

"Come now, none of you've ever heard of the great pain-in-the-butt that is Masquerade?"

"Nope."

"Uh uh."

"Never heard of him."

"Well anyway, he sent me this." Spectra exclaimed displaying the screen of his phone.

'Andrew Nonymous is planning to wipe out both Vestal and Earth! Urgent reply back! The brawlers and resistance have been turned evil. they are plotting the end of the world. Gather your team and meet me at Wardington park at 8pm tomorrow.'

~Masquerade

"Why does your inbox say 1/1?' Lync asked with a smirk.

Before Spectra could smack Lync Mylene interrupted.

"So the brawlers found a new hobby. We should care, because?"

"I think it has to do with the fact they're planning to help destroy the world. We're supposed to care because we live on the planet they want to destroy." Shadow stated with very un-Shadow like logic.

"Are you on drugs?" Volt inquired.

"I don't think he's Shadow whoever he is." Lync remarked poking the silent Darkus brawler.

"So you want us to save the world? Get real, Spectra." Mylene muttered.

"No, I want to go to earth and support Gus's juice fetish," Spectra replied sarcastically, "Look, all I'm saying is we go hear Masquerade out. I have some unfinished business with him and this time I'm bringing my crowbar."

"I support whatever Master Spectra chooses," Gus announced,"Especially if I can have more juice in boxes."

**A/N: Review if you want me to continue! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Chapter 2. I apologize if anyone's OOC this chapter was a bit rushed. Also for this story anything I mention i.e. crowbars exist on Vestal. Okay? Thanks for all the reviews. **

***Edited 4/19/12***

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bakugan.**

"Just hand me the crowbar, Mylene," Spectra coaxed impatiently.

Despite having already given him a migraine they continued to test his patience.

Before the Vexos could actually make it to Earth, Mylene had stolen his crowbar.

Spectra was trying to get it back by approaching the infuriated girl slowly, but every step he took towards Mylene sent her two closer to a manically laughing Shadow.

She had a devious grin on her face and it was only too obvious what she planned to do with the stolen weapon.

"Master Spectra? Not to bother you, but we must be on Earth in 2 minutes and that juice store closes in 10..." Gus trailed off with his statement as he tugged on Spectra's sleeve to get his attention.

"Gus! I am dealing with an extremely delicate situation here! And-Oh great! Now it's dented!" Spectra growled as he threw his hands up in exasperation.

The motion dislodged Gus's grip on his sleeve and sent the unsuspecting Subterra brawler tumbling forward.

Gus landed in the path of Shadow, who was running from Mylene. They both tripped over Gus. Then Lync jumped into the fray yelling, "Dog pile on Gus!"

As usual, Volt stood back and watched with an amused expression.

Spectra moaned and reached for the bottle of aspirin he'd had in his pocket, but it was missing.

Instead of breaking down as most would do when faced with a similar situation he stood his ground and barked orders at his failure of a team.

"Everyone off of Gus. Now!" Spectra commanded.

The other Vexos slowly complied, although Mylene still clutched the crowbar tightly.

"Okay, drop the crowbar, Mylene. Shadow, drop the pills."

With an angry resignment she let the crowbar clatter to the ground. Seconds later Shadow guiltily dropped the pills and proceeded to scramble away from Mylene.

"It makes sense now!" Lync exclaimed pointing to Shadow and the incriminating bottle in turn.

"Get over here so we can go!" Spectra said, ignoring Lync.

"Master Spectra-"

""You can get your bloody juice after the meeting, Gus!"

"Yes, Master Spectra." Gus replied and followed the others through the portal to Earth.

"Finally decided to show up?" Masquerade said, deciding to ignore Spectra's disheveled appearance and the crowbar he was carrying, "You're late you know."

"We got delayed. Cut to the chase, Masquerade. I'd like to get this over with. I swear if you try anything like last time..."

"I'll try not to. Although it is _so _fun to annoy you, Spectra. Or should I address you as Keith? It's a tad confusing that you have two names."

Spectra rolled his eyes, "You're one to talk, _Alice_."

"What?" Shadow yelled as he jumped out from behind the ever personality less and boring Volt.

The hyper darkus brawler bounced around, "You mean he's red? ~! What? ~!"

"Calm down, Shadow Prove. Yes, it's true: I'm Alice's split-personality as they say," Masquerade responded calmly, a stark contrast to Shadow.

"So you're the one who destroyed my Hades! Oh you're gonna pay, girly!"

"Yes, I'm so afraid of the big bad wolf. Or maybe the stupid hyena would be a better comparison in this case, wouldn't you agree?" Masquerade retorted, smirking and even gesturing for Shadow to come at him.

"Wait! Is he a girl or not? 'Cuz if he's not I can hit him, right? Right?" Shadow asked turning towards his teammates and receiving a smack upside the head from Mylene.

"Can we end this nonsense?" Spectra bellowed.

"Of course, Spectra, we wouldn't want to keep the princess waiting," Masquerade laughed.

"Gus, hand me my crowbar," Spectra said.

"Sir? I can't find it..." Gus looked around frantically for the misplaced weapon.

Spectra responded impatiently, "Never mind, Gus. I'll take this guy right here, right now. Come on, Masquerade! Unless you're afraid?"

"But I still haven't figured out if we're allowed to hit him!" Shadow whined.

"I'm about to hit you! Idiot. Get out of my way!" Spectra snarled as he marched toward the blonde.

"Master Spectra, are you sure this is a good time for this...?" Gus interjected trying to block Spectra.

"Oh how adorable Spectra! I didn't know you had a dog!" Masquerade mocked.

"It's on now you freak!"

"Two against one? That isn't fair. What's a poor girl to do?" Masquerade let out an evil chuckle as his hair fell down and turned orange.

Pretty soon Alice was pulling the mask from her face and wondering what had happened.

"Okay now we definitely can't hit her 'cuz she's a girl." Shadow decided.

"Come on, Masquerade! Come fight like a man-or whatever you are! Or are you just going to hide behind Alice?"

"What's going on here Spectra?" Alice asked as she looked around in confusion.

Sighing Spectra relaxed from his fighting stance and began to explain, "Your friend Masquerade was here and called us all from Vestal to hear about a new villain planning to take over the world."

"Oh my. But why didn't Masquerade tell me before he took over again? One minute I was washing dishes at the cafe, then nothing."

"Can you get him back so I can hit him?-I mean so he can explain?"

"I guess I can. Just promise you'll stop him if he tries to turn evil again, okay?" Alice remarked.

"Yes, I promise. Because we villains are so known for our honesty and reliability." Spectra said sarcastically, although if Alice noticed she didn't comment on it.

"All right. Here it goes." Alice said. Her hair rose up as if it were defying gravity and turned blond. The mask also resumed its place on her face.

The Vexos agreed to a temporary truce if Masquerade would actually explain.

Meanwhile, Julie leapt down from a nearby tree, dressed all in black.

She threw the bomb she held toward the Vexos and smiled maliciously, "Bye bye, Vexos."

Then she slipped away at the call of Andrew.

**A/N: Review please! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Chapter 3! Finally! Read and review. Also I apoligize if there's OOC this chapter and for it not being as funny as previous ones. Its more of an explanation thing. Next chapter however should be ROFL worthy...;) Enjoy!**

Andrew Nonymous quickly swerved to avoid getting hit by a car. He was on his rusted bike that he'd had to paint black when he got it from the junkyard. It was originally hot pink with 'Slumber Party' and purple tassles on it, probably designed for a 10 year old girl. Unlike most villains he didn't have an awesome ship or a motorcycle; he had a girl's bike.

His sudden swerve banged his arm off a stop sign as he rode to Runo Misaki's house. Swearing like a trucker the lanky boy rubbed his arm and smoothed his wild green hair.

As he pulled his bike into the driveway Runo appeared at the door.

Andrew had decided on the ride over that Runo was one of his most valuable team members. She had a fiery temper to begin with and by turning her into a villain it amplified her anger 10 fold. The only problem was she was as likely to turn against her teammates (or him) as the enemy. Runo had given him more than a few black-eyes when in a rage. Despite all this she was a more competent member and not stupid like *cough* Dan *cough*, so that she got a great deal of the missions.

Andrew was also quite taken with the blunette, but afraid voicing this would get him killed. Quite literally.

Runo's relationship with Dan Kuso had not lasted a day after the transformation. Their new personalities conflicted too much. It was at a point that they could not be in the same room because of the multiple hour screaming matches that ensued.

Out of the brawlers Dan was relatively useless to Andrew. He picked fights with everyone he came in contact with and his ego was unbearable. Dan could foul up most missions he was given, and he was usually too busy training with Drago to care. The only reason Andrew kept Dan around was the threat it presented if Dan were to turn good again.

His other team members also had their quirks. Julie never smiled anymore unless it was related to the threat of, or result of violence. She was someone who was a general jerk to her peers. She was quick and precise with tasks, but got distracted often.

Marucho swore profusely. He also blew up over nothing. Although he wasn't near as violent as Runo in result of his anger, he was often too furious to listen to assignments lone enough carry them out.

Shun was a quiet, scheming, kind of villain. Andrew couldn't remember the boy saying more than ten words to him, and usually they were passive 'yes' to assignments. However his plans were infallible and usually malicious.

Andrew would have loved to have Alice on his team, but Masquerade made that impossible since he was already technically 'evil'.

Runo's yell startled him out of his thoughts, "Hey! As much as I'd love to watch you sit there like an idiot all day I'm gonna be late."

Andrew nodded and gestured for her to hop on the back of his bike.

"You know you're really pathetic." Runo began her daily rant, "You're 19 and riding-"

Andrew cut her off, "A bike. I know."

"A _girl's_ bike." Runo added unhelpfully, "At least if I rode the bus I'd have my own seat and could go above 2 miles per hour!"

"I'm not that slow!" Andrew snapped bracing for the angry fist hitting his back. Today the punch was especially hard and Andrew's control of the bike faltered.

"I hate you." Runo pipped up as she glared daggers at him.

Sighing Andrew rolled his eyes and asked his own daily line, "Did you find out anything new?"

"No. Julie went to the park last night but I don't know if she completed her mission. You should ask her."

Andrew pedaled faster until he got to Runo's school. She hopped off and with another insult and a well aimed kick at him stalked into the building, two hours after the bell.

Runo's teachers had gotten used to her new routine. For the past few days when she actually bothered to show up to school she was two hours late. Runo did this intentionally and everyone knew it.

Her friends didn't question it as she no longer had friends other than the brawlers.

*Flashback*

_"Hey Runo." greeted Amy. Amy was in Runo's Math and Science classes. They were a bit more than aquaitnces, having a few conversations a week._

_"Shut up. Leave me alone." Runo snapped stomping to her desk and knocking things off desks on the way to hers._

_"Runo Misaki. Why are you late?" the teacher asked._

_Runo blew her bangs out of her face and rolled her mascara lined eyes. Pausing long enough to enfuriate the short-tempered teacher she replied, "I dunno, felt like it."_

_Throughout the day similar conversations were held with other school friends of Runo's until they all quit talking to her. Thus she became isolated at school. And well known for her now even worse temper._

_*End flashback_

After attending school until lunch each day she would sneak off to Andrew's base to meet up with the gang.

Her parents were helpless. They couldn't say 'Don't go to school' even if she usually wasn't there when she should've been anyway. The aggravated phonecalls stopped a week after having started to plague the Misaki's phone.

Of course Andrew had to do with it.

* * *

><p>"Guys did you hear something?" Volt suddenly spoke up.<p>

"Wha?" Shadow asked as he poked his head out of the water. He'd been swimming in the park's fountain to the dubious stares of onlookers.

The rest of the Vexos, and Masquerade, also said they hadn't heard anything and stared at Volt. Volt rolled his eyes and pointed to the sky a few blocks away that had the aftermath of an explosion floating in it.

"It looks like something blew up!" Lync stated excitedly.

"That must've been some explosion." Mylene muttered with bored disinterest.

"That was where the juice store was." Gus said numbly.

Masquerade tapped his foot impatiently, "You people are distracted very easily. But if we must lets check it out." Then Masquerade started leading the group towards the building.

Spectra huffed a little at being replaced as leader figure.

But he trailed along recalling the last time he'd met up with Masquerade...

**A/N: Yes I'm keeping you waiting ;) Review and I'll update quicker!**


	4. An update! Finally! (Chapter 4)

**A/N: To save time I'll be brief with my apologies on the long wait for this chapter: I'm really sorry, I've been very busy. I also need to apologize about the fact that the promised Spectra and Masquerade backstory is being delayed indefinitely, but I'd rather post this chapter without it than not at all. Now that I'm done being sorry, please enjoy this chapter (finally)! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own bakugan**

The first attempt on the Vexos life from Andrew's team ended in failure, as Julie was loath to report. By the time she had made it back to the base Andrew was already watching the newscast that featured the result of her handiwork: a convenience store in flames.

"I don't need to ask how the mission went," Andrew clicked off the TV and slowly stood up. Before Julie could utter a word, the remote sailed through the air and shattered the glass in the nearest window.

Julie started. It wasn't like they had a lot of money to replace windows, or a lot of windows to replace for that matter. The base was two rooms large and for the most part dimly lit. The second room had huge black drapes (reminiscent of a medieval movie, Julie thought to herself) that Andrew kept closed almost indefinitely.

Rather than voice the concern about replacing the window, she took a slight step toward the doorway of the other room.

Andrew had gotten angry before, sure. Like the time Dan refused to go on a mission Andrew assigned him because he was busy training. Or the time Dan and Runo started screaming at each other and wouldn't shut up, no matter who tried to intervene, for two hours straight. He had a similar expression on his face as he did the time he got a bill from the shopping channel for things Julie had ordered off the base's TV.

"It's not easy throwing those explosive things you know! I'd like to see you do it!" Julie said as she kicked off her lethal-looking heels, which Andrew managed to avoid when they went flying.

Julie had decided that if she sat down and turned the TV on Andrew would probably just give up on the lecture. What could he do anyway? Fire her? Not likely.

Andrew had been considering a worthy response when Runo shoved past him into the room, calling his name.

"What?" he replied cautiously, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

Runo turned to face him, a dangerous smile on her face, "I think it's time we had a meeting...about this whole leader thing."

"Julie!" Andrew yelled, beginning to order her out of the room.

"I can't hear you!" Julie called back, providing no further response.

He sighed. This whole scheme was starting to become a real pain. Not to mention that window he now had to pay for…

Runo decided she was tired of waiting for a signal to go on, so she resumed her explanation on her own, "You're not very good at being a leader."

Well, she was certainly blunt.

"Excuse me?"

"They don't respect you. Half the time they don't even listen to you. Julie's happy to be bribed with clothes-"

"And shoes!" Julie added from her perch on the arm of the couch, all pretense of listening to her IPod (so she'd be allowed to listen in) forgotten.

"-Marucho hates your guts. Shun just humors you on a whim. Dan doesn't listen to you worth crap, and I...also hate your guts. But I deal with it by taking it out on your face."

Although this was true it made Andrew wince. He did let them walk all over him, didn't he?

Nothing Andrew did seemed to curb the brawlers' desire to disobey him and act on their own whims whenever possible. Runo was mostly obedient, unless he did or said something to tick her off.

Dan really had no concept of respect for Andrew. He did whatever he wanted, whenever. He didn't show up to all the meetings or accept missions. (Well, there was that one time…But the outcome meant that Andrew didn't push the issue of Dan going on missions anymore.)

Shun and Marucho? They could be a bit rebellious at times. Actually, make that just Marucho. Shun did everything he was told without a word of complaint. Maybe Andrew should've just recruited all ninjas to do his bidding?

Julie was just incompetent. Andrew highly suspected it was due to the fact her motivation lied in how much free stuff she got in return.

"So I was thinking we should have a leader who gets things done. Who can rule by respect-or fear-and I think I would do ten times better than you." Runo crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, daring Andrew to object.

"That's ridiculous. There's no way in he-"

"I propose that I go assassinate the Vexos, and then we talk about a promotion. Otherwise I can always stage a mutiny," an evil glint lit her eye and Julie briefly flashed a thumbs up in support, "You know they'd pick me."

Andrew tried to keep his face blank. It would be nice to have the Vexos taken care of, and surely Runo of all people could get the job done. But the real question he was struggling with was whether it would be worth it to let her get her way even though it meant making a submissive move as a leader.

_An evil Runo. __What __was I thinking?, Andrew wondered._

"Fine. You have one hour. Don't fail, or else."

"Or else what?"

"Or I'll kick you out for threatening mutiny."

Honestly Andrew should have known she wouldn't react well to threats.

"Do you see anything important?"

"Other than Gus having a freak out because his 'juice store' was blown up? Not really."

The Vexos and Masquerade had gone to investigate the explosion they had seen in the sky.

It turned out that a nearby convenience store, which happened to have been the one that Gus bought his juice boxes at, had been blown up.

By the time they got there police, news reporters, and fire fighters were already swarming the scene.

"I found this."

"A tube of mascara? I don't think that's relevant, Volt."

"It has wires sticking out of it and its smoking. It's not an ordinary tube of mascara." Volt stated as if he was annoyed by his denseness.

"So you think some girl chucked this at the store and Kablamo! Explosion?"

"But why?"

"I think, Masquerade, that this was the work of the evil brawlers you mentioned."

"That's a good guess. But we still don't know why. What importance did this store have that they felt the need to destroy it?"

"Maybe they just miscalculated."

"How do you accidentally throw a bomb at a store?"

They didn't know that they had actually hit on the truth.

"Why can't we just go back to Vestal?" Shadow whined.

"Because Alice's grandfather doesn't want her leaving the planet," Mylene gave a snort of disgust as glances were cast at the timid-looking red head sitting on a log across from them.

It was blatantly obvious she did not belong amongst the circle of hostile villains, and she desperately wished she could leave, but as soon as she would move to do so she knew Masquerade could just take control again.

The Vexos plus Alice/Masquerade, depending on the time, were in the woods at the moment, so as to provide privacy for whatever plans they were going to discuss.

The meeting was halted though by the revelation that they hadn't eaten dinner and were all starving. The meeting was set to commence in half an hour, which Volt was in charge of notifying them of since his complete lack of a social life/doing anything would mean he was less likely to forget to remind them.

There were four logs, one on each side of the fire with the Vexos spaced out on them.

Volt and Lync were eating in silence on one side, while across the fire Gus and Spectra sat on a log discussing something intently.

Alice was by herself, glancing around anxiously every few minutes as if to make sure no one planned to attack. Lastly, Mylene and Shadow (much to Mylene's annoyance) were sharing a log on the other side.

"Could you _not _sit so close to me?" Mylene spat at Shadow, who was seriously encroaching on her personal space.

"I can't move over or I'll fall off!" he protested, which wasn't very convincing since there was probably a good two feet of log next to him.

"Then let me help you with that!" Mylene replied and unceremoniously shoved him off.

Lync was watching the events with disinterest (when he wasn't sneaking glances at Alice out of the corner of his eye).

Abruptly Lync stood up and moved over to sit beside Alice.

Her eyes widened in surprise, but she didn't comment.

"H-Hey Alice. Can I sit here...?"

Although she hadn't yet completely forgiven him for his earlier betrayal, she did appreciate any display of friendship in the current unforgiving situation. She let him stay.

"I'm, uh, sorry about before I guess. I shouldn't have tricked you," Lync looked at the ground as he said it, but he did manage to choke out an apology.

Lync slowly moved his hand toward Alice's, he was almost there...

"Ow!" Lync screamed as he jumped up from the log.

"What's wrong?" Alice looked up at him with concern.

Lync moved his hand up so she could see it. The pain in his hand was from a knife sticking out of it.

"What the he-How did that happen?" Spectra demanded as soon as he saw the knife, just in time for another to imbed itself in the log where he'd been sitting.

"Show yourself!" Gus yelled, pointing into the surrounding trees dramatically.

"Now why would I do that?" a voice called mockingly.

There was silence for a moment until Alice called out, "Runo?" with a puzzled expression.

"The one and only." Runo stepped into the clearing with a fistful of knives.

"The knives seemed easy because I could attack from a distance," she explained calmly, "If only my aim was a little better."

"A little? Looked like you were pretty far off to me. I mean, you never hear of someone dying from a knife to their hand do you?" Spectra responded.

"Shut up! Don't make me kill you right here!"

"Wasn't that your goal anyway?" Volt said.

"Well this complicates the plan, but rest assured, I have no intention of failing this mission."

"Yeah? We don't have any intention of dying, but 'A' for effort. Though I'd have to give the outfit a C-. Don't you know that capes are so outdated?" Spectra said.

"You really are useless, you know that? Instead of being completely worthless and standing around wondering about my outfit you idiots could have tried to escape. But no, you stand around cluelessly until you're trapped. It's no wonder you never succeed at anything."

"Hey!" came indignant cries from several of the Vexos.

"What does she mean by tr -" Gus began.

"Now!" Runo yelled.

"Who should I aim at first?" another familiar voice called from the trees.

"Dan! You just ruined it!" Runo looked torn between doing a face-palm and ripping Dan's throat out, who had also materialized in the clearing.

"This was the worst assassination attempt in the history of assassination attempts."

**A/N: I hope you had as much fun reading this as I did writing it. Poor Lync. I feel maybe the knife right as he was about to hold Alice's hand might be a bad omen xD (just kidding). Thank you for reading, and now please review! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Another much delayed update. Hopefully I'll be able to get Chapter 6 up in less than 6 months. Anyway, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bakugan.**

For a moment no one moved as the Vexos and Alice appraised the two former heroes. Then laughter erupted when someone could no longer contain themselves over Dan's ridiculous outfit. He had on his usual clothes, with the addition of a cheesy looking black cape and a cheap black mask that only covered his eyes. His hair was spiked in a poor imitation of Masquerade and Spectra's much longer style. Overall, he looked like a dork.

Runo was wearing a black skirt with chains, a black top, and some biker boots. She also had on a mask, although it was of slightly better quality than Dan's.

"Did we miss anything?" Julie's voice rang out across the clearing and a sigh of exasperation could be heard from Runo. Standing at the edge of the woods were Julie, Shun, and Marucho, all clad in their own mismatched attire.

Shun's outfit was all black, normal for him, and very ninja-esque. He also had on a mask. Marucho wore a leather jacket, which looked ridiculous on him, and a mask. Julie's ensemble was obviously better thought-out than the others. She had on a hot pink shirt with a skull on it, black pants that were so bedazzled you could barely tell what color they were, and a fancy Mardi Gras style mask with hot pink feathers on it.

"Really? _Everyone's _wearing masks? Isn't that a bit overkill?"

"So what is your leader's plan, anyway? Aside from getting rid of us?" Spectra asked.

"I don't think you should tell him, Runo," Dan said.

"Don't be stupid. It's not like these losers could stop us anyway. Andrew wants to use Vestal technology, the same kind as you used to keep the bakugan in their ball forms on New Vestroia, but he will modify it so that he can set loose full-size bakugan on Earth and Vestal, to rampage through the cities!"

"And why does he think rational, peaceful bakugan would rampage through the cities?"

"Because he'll give them a dose of his 'evil' ray before he sets them loose. Then, when the people of Earth and Vestal are desperate, he'll be the only one with enough power to stop them, so he'll demand they make him king of both worlds in exchange. Does that answer your question?

"I find it highly unlikely that plan would even work. Furthermore, I think you're seriously underestimating us."

"Enough talking. Who here's brave enough to take me on in a brawl?" Runo yelled.

"I-" Spectra started but was cut off by Helios, who popped open to speak.

"Master, may we battle Drago and the boy instead?"

Spectra only took a moment to consider this before replying, "We want to fight Kuso." After all, Dan was his nemesis.

"That wasn't what I _said-_!" Runo was protesting when Masquerade, who had taken control from Alice, stepped forward and offered to brawl her.

"Fine. But don't bore me," Runo said, withdrawing Tigrerra.

"As if. Like you even have a chance," Masquerade flashed a confident grin and then threw out Hydranoid.

The rest of the assembled brawlers and Vexos looked lost for a moment before they all came to the conclusion that _they _should be having brawls too. Sadly, there were only 5 brawlers and 7 members of the Vexos/Alice/Masquerade team-up, so two people on that side had to sit out. The unlucky two were Volt and Lync. The match-ups for the battles were Gus vs. Julie, Shun vs. Mylene, and Marucho vs. Shadow.

"No fair! I wanna brawl!' Lync cried, still cradling his injured hand.

"It's probably better you don't," Volt said.

Before Lync could indignantly ask what he meant by that, the battles had started.

***battles commence, winners are as follows: Dan, Masquerade, Shun, Julie, and Marucho***

"Nice job, bird-brain. Couldn't even beat Kuso. Tsk tsk," Masquerade chided Spectra, who had lost his battle with Dan.

"Shut-up! You had it easy. Everyone knows _I _had the harder opponent!" Spectra countered; annoyed that Masquerade had managed to win while he had lost.

"Who's the one that picked him, huh?" Masquerade said.

"Gus?" Spectra called to the blue-haired Subterra brawler.

"Yes, Master Spectra," Gus answered, coming to stand beside him, "I have succeeded in obtaining a new crowbar from an Earth hardware store. Would you like me to give it to you?"

"No crowbars! Can't you idiots see they're getting away?!" Mylene informed them.

Sure enough the former heroes (who had won four of the five battles) were fleeing.

Only Runo still stood at the edge of the clearing, "We'll be back, Vexos. You'd better watch out."

"So, basically we accomplished nothing and lost again."

"Thank you for that helpful analysis, Volt."

* * *

><p>Runo was livid. After all her hard work she had <em>lost. <em>Of course it probably wouldn't have come to a battle if Dan hadn't screwed things up. For all she knew, she might have been successful in offing the Vexos if he wasn't there. This line of thinking meant one thing and one thing only for Dan: pain.

"This is entirely your fault, you idiot! I can't believe you! How many times did I go over the plan with you? You're so stupid! "Runo was screaming at Dan, and alternately trying to land blows on the Pyrus brawler, who kept dodging.

"Hey, Runo, why did you take him along anyway?" Julie asked on their way back to the base.

Everyone but Shun looked unusually downcast.

"I was leaving the base to go kill the Vexos when I ran into him, and then everything went downhill."

_Flashback:_

"_Where are _you _going?" Dan called out when Runo walked past the spot where he was training with Drago._

"_No where you can come," she replied sharply, quickening her stride._

_Of course, being told he couldn't come made Dan desperate to._

"_Wait! Come back! Hey, blueberry, I'm talking to you!"_

"_Blueberry?!" Runo shrieked with a mixture of astonishment and fury._

"_Yeah! You look like a blue whale too!" Dan called out, struggling to think of more 'blue' names he could call her, hence the 'blue whale'._

_Despite his lack of originality, being compared to a giant sea animal definitely made Runo angry enough to come back._

"_I'm going to KILL YOU!" Runo ran towards him, and Dan proceeded to run away, unable to stop himself from yelling in the process._

_You may be wondering how that scene led to Dan coming along, but it's really quite simple. Evil Runo was obviously full of murderous anger toward Evil Dan, but her new personality put a higher value on accomplishing her goals than clobbering Dan. After chasing him around for a while she finally gave up. He also stopped running and hesitantly slunk over to where she was standing. Then she clocked him a good one in the face (Luckily she didn't break his nose, which would've wasted even more time) and relented by offering to take him with her if he would 'SHUT UP ALREADY! And stop giving her a headache with his screaming'_

_Evil Dan wasn't any tougher than normal Dan, but he was a little more reluctant to forgive Runo for punching him in the face, and wasn't sure he even _wanted _to come along anymore. But he did, with the promise that he might get to battle. Dan was still a sucker for a good bakugan battle._

"But he's reminded me that he is absolutely worthless and can't follow even the simplest plan!" she screamed, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

"Hey! I won my battle! Unlike _some _people."

"Maybe I would have won if I hadn't been so worried about how to save the mission after you screwed it up so royally!"

"Maybe if you would spend less time bossing people around and beating me up you would be a half decent brawler!"

"Oooh," Julie said, "he did not just say that."

"Do you have any value for your own life, Dan?" Marucho asked.

"Idiots." Shun stepped forward and bonked Dan on the head.

"There, he's been punished. No need to start some pointless fight, Runo," Shun continued and walked on ahead.

The rest of the group stood in silence for a good minute. Then Julie broke it, "Why'd he have to ruin it? Would've been a perfectly good fight! What do you say, Runo? Are you still gonna kick his butt?"

"Sleep with one eye open," was all she said before she sprinted ahead as well.

"...Well, at least she's letting you live, for now," Julie said.

"That's not comforting."

"Then why don't you make up with her? Persuade her not to kill you. I bet she's still mad you two broke up…" Julie trailed off.

"I am not going to date that psychopath!"

"Well then, what kind of flowers do you want me to bring to your funeral?"

"…" Dan was speechless, a very strange thing indeed.

* * *

><p>"How's your hand, Lync?" Volt asked.<p>

"Better, thanks to Alice," Lync said, casting a look over to where the red-head was sitting next to Spectra across the fire. Something about the scene upset him, but he was trying to ignore it.

"It must be annoying, having Masquerade take over all the time," Spectra said as he and Alice sat on a log. _At least she's a lot less of a pain than Masquerade_, he thought.

"It's alright. He hasn't done it in a while before all this mess," Alice smiled warmly, and Spectra was unsettled.

"So, is it like that for you?" Alice asked.

"Like what for me?"

"Going between Keith and Spectra. Is Spectra your split-personality?"

"Well, no. Not exactly."

"You seem much nicer than the others say Spectra is, so I thought maybe the mask triggered it, and you had a split-personality like me."

"Kind of a different story entirely with me."

"Would you tell me why you became Spectra?"

"I don't really want to."

"That's okay. I just wanted to say I know what it's like. Not to have people trust you, the whole former villain thing."

"But why shouldn't they trust _you_? It's not like it was your fault. Masquerade was controlling you."

"It doesn't matter. I still gave away all my friends secrets; I caused them so much trouble…I was so grateful when they managed to forgive me, because I didn't think it was possible. But they did. My friends are really great people. So we have to help them, before they do things while they're like this that they might regret later. I don't want them to feel like I did."

"That's good of you…but I'm not like that, Alice. I don't regret what I did or do as Spectra."

"That's okay too," she said, but he thought she sounded sad, "Goodnight, Keith."

"Thanks for fixing my hand, Alice."

"Of course, Lync. You're welcome."

"Would you like one of these weird puffy things Gus bought?" Lync noticed her looking at him curiously and hid his reddening face by turning to look at the label on the bag, "Marshmallows?"

"Okay, I'll take one."

Then the two turned to look at a source of noise that had just erupted. Shadow had the second bag of marshmallows Gus had bought, and was seeing how many he could fit in his mouth.

"You look like a gluttonous, demented chipmunk!"

"FAH-HA!" Shadow attempted to laugh with the marshmallows still in his mouth, which was a mistake. Not only did many of the sticky, half-chewed treats go flying everywhere, covering some of the disgusted spectators, but he also started to choke.

"Does anyone know that thing that helps a choking person?" Spectra asked.

"He's not a person; he's a hyena!" Lync yelled.

"Someone help him," Volt said, the only calm one in the group.

"It's okay if he dies; he wasn't a very good brawler anyway."

"What a horrible thing to say!" Alice exclaimed.

"Stop talking, you idiots and do something!" Mylene yelled, picked up one of the log benches, and hit Shadow in the back with it. The marshmallow was dislodged, although Shadow would probably have a large bruise to show for it.

"You know, now that I think about it, I did learn the Heimlich maneuver in third grade, didn't I?" Alice mused to herself.

In response, Shadow slumped to the ground, exhausted from his brush with death. Mylene started walking towards one of the cheap nylon tents they had also picked up after the failed assassination. On her way she kicked Shadow in the side and said, "Get up, moron. I didn't save your life so you could lie in the dirt and trip people."

Finally the remaining bag of marshmallows, which Lync had dropped too close to the fire in the excitement, burst into flames.

"And thus ends a very unproductive day as heroes!"

"Shut up, Lync."

**A/N: I love getting reviews, so…*hint* *hint* I promise from here on the plot will pick up pace some. And I will really try to get Chapter 6 up sometime next week. I have it almost finished as I'm typing this. Reviews will encourage me! If you have any more input about the pairings, now is the time to speak up. As of now I'm thinking DanxRuno, ShadowxMylene, GusxJulie, and LyncxAlice , possibly with a side of some SpectraxAlice because I started unconsciously writing it that way. Anywho, let me know what you think!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Chapter 6 is here, and I'm sorry if it sucks. It was kind of rushed. Feel free to tell me what you like/don't like about it! Also, thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bakugan**

Andrew did not kick Runo out as a result of her failure, despite his promise to do so.

However, he did try to have a conversation with her.

"Did you kill them?" Andrew asked when Runo got back.

"No. But I would have if Dan and the others hadn't come along and messed up my plan! The next time I see Dan alone I'm going to rip his throat out!" she yelled.

"You are aware of the consequences I stated when I sent you out if you were to fail the mission. I should kick you out for trying to threaten me."

"Do it. I know you won't, because you _can't._ Without me you wouldn't have a chance," she said confidently.

"I am not going to kick you out, although I can still change my mind about that, Runo. But I do have an offer for you. How would you like to be my partner? Lead with me, have an equal share in everything we conquer! If we succeed in taking Earth and Vestal, I'll give you your pick of the planets. You can be royalty, a queen!"

"What's in it for you? Why would you want to share the power?"

"Well, you did have a point that the others don't listen to me much. But they would listen to you. Also, I do admit that I may harbor some feelings for you…Runo-"

"Hahahahahahaha!" Runo's laughter echoed through the room and she slammed a fist into the wall, as if to illustrate how funny the idea was.

"You think that if you bribe me with all this power you plan to get and a place alongside you as leader, I'll agree to be your girlfriend? That's not going to happen. Not in a million years!" Runo finished, still laughing mockingly at the startled Andrew.

"You'd be an idiot to refuse!" he protested.

"Oh? So now you're calling me an idiot? Look, I'm feeling generous tonight. I even gave Dan a few more hours to live. But if you don't stop saying such ridiculous things, I'll destroy you. 'Kay?"

Andrew wasn't really sure what the best response would be. He nodded mutely.

"Why don't you try asking Julie? She'd sell her soul for a designer handbag."

"Runo is becoming an increasingly difficult problem," Andrew said to himself once she had left. _She threatens to take over, and then refuses my generous offer of an alliance. Even though I suppose I didn't really expect her to say yes. Maybe if I hadn't confessed to having feelings for her…that's probably what put her off the idea. Maybe I really will have to fire her, unless I want to find this entire thing stolen out from under me when she decides to take over. But I'll let her alone for now. She's so pretty…and terrifyin_g, he thought. Then he went to tell everyone about tomorrow's mission. Step one of his plan was about to begin.

* * *

><p><em>"Try giving her a reason <em>not _to kill you…"_ Julie's words echoed in his head as Dan cowered in terror.

He was sitting on a cot that had been pushed into a corner of the base's second room.

Originally everyone had started to go home as usual, but Andrew had told them last-minute they would be staying here tonight, so they could get an early start the next day.

Shun had set up camp in a corner on the far side of the room. He had blankets hung up all around his area to make walls and was soundly asleep by the time Dan came crashing through them.

Julie and Runo were sharing the couch's pull-out bed, and Marucho had a sleeping bag in the middle of the floor, much to everyone else's inconvenience.

But Dan could not sleep, he just sat there toying with the blankets on his cot and trying to see through the darkness; After all, Runo's attack could come at any moment. Although he tried to reassure himself he was only staying up because the cot was uncomfortable, it was clear he was too afraid Runo would murder him to sleep.

When he had sat up for several hours he heard a floorboard creak, and bolted over to Shun's area.

"Shun! Shun! You have to save me! SHE'S COMING TO KILL ME!" Dan scream-whispered as he landed on the unfortunate Ventus brawler and destroyed the makeshift walls.

Before Dan's pleas could wake anyone else up, a hand reached out and grabbed him by the throat.

"Shut up and go to sleep before _I _kill you," Shun intoned before rolling over and giving a half-hearted wave for Dan to sleep on the discarded blankets.

"Okay, but if she comes you have to protect me!"

"Ugh."

Thus Dan got almost no sleep, Shun was grumpy the next morning, and Runo didn't have to lift a finger to terrorize Dan.

Somewhere during his long hours of cowering, however, Dan had come to a conclusion. The only way to prevent Runo from fulfilling her threat and killing him would be to take Julie's advice. Or never leave Shun's side, but that plan had its own hazards as well.

* * *

><p>"Why haven't you left yet? I thought I said I wanted everyone ready by noon at the latest!" Andrew cried in exasperation when he saw Julie reclining on the couch.<p>

"Dan didn't get up until noon. Now he's taking forever to get ready. He was up almost all night," Julie replied with a laugh.

"Why this time?" he sighed.

"He was afraid Runo would murder him in his sleep."

"Of course he was. Why do I even bother?"

* * *

><p>In the end the heroes-turned-villains left for Vestal around 2pm, ready to enact the plan they'd gone over with Andrew the previous night.<p>

"If you don't come back with the machine, don't come back at all!" Andrew had warned on their way out.

"Yeah, yeah," Runo said, leading them towards the transporter.

-Section break-

The Vexos wound up following shortly afterward, although they had no idea of this. Their morning went something like this:

Spectra stood in the center of the circle, formed by the other Vexos and Alice at the moment, with ashes from last night's fire getting all over his boots. He started to address the group, "Okay, today we need to stop the brawlers from doing whatever it is they decide to do, because thus far we have done nothing. Half this entire story we've been having a stupid campout in the woods, under the pretense that we're coming up with some master plan, when we know all we're doing is creating an ideal setting for Shadow to get himself killed some stupid way or another."

"Wow, Spectra, who knew _you _cared so much?" Lync called out.

"Maybe this kind of slacking is okay when we're just fighting for our own personal gain, but did it ever occur to you people what will happen if we lose this time?"

"We'll be ridiculed as horrible heroes as well as villains?"

"Eventually Shadow will die, and our group will be much saner?"

"Gus will run off and rob a store, just so he can steal all the juice in it?"

"No! We're talking about saving the world here. _Both_ worlds! Vestal and Earth!" Spectra said, "If we lose there will be no more juice for you, Gus. No more hideous clown make-up for you to buy, Mylene."

"What did you just say?" she growled.

"No more scenes where you can stand there silently like the boring brick you are, Volt. I have no idea what Shadow cares about, nor do I really want to. But most importantly, it will be the end of the world as we know it. So who wants to save the world?"

Silence, although Alice raised her hand. Finally Spectra was fed up with the lack of interest the majority of the Vexos were showing. He decided it would be better to send them off if he wanted anything productive to get done. "Leave," he said quietly.

"Huh?" Lync hadn't heard what the Pyrus brawler had said. Neither had the others.

"I don't care what you do, but leave! Go pick some berries in the woods or something!"

No one moved.

"I said LEAVE!"

That time the Vexos did leave, wandering off into the woods in various directions, all except Gus, who went to stand at attention next to Spectra.

The only people left in the clearing were Gus, Spectra, and Masquerade, who had taken over so he could speak.

"Since we are probably the only people here that care if we're successful, I felt it would be more productive to send them off. I think the first thing we need to do is go to Vestal."

"Why?" Masquerade asked.

"Because, if he needs Vestal technology, that's probably where he'll send them to get it."

"Alright. What do you plan to do if we catch them there?"

"We beat them, take them hostage, and force that Andrew guy to surrender. If he won't we'll just have to break in and steal his ray thing ourselves. Then we're done with this 'saving the world' business."

"I think you're over-simplifying this. There's no guarantee we _can_ win. I seem to remember that most of your people, including yourself, lost the last time we confronted them," Masquerade looked at Spectra questioningly.

"What do you propose we do? Let you fight all of them? Because I don't see that working out too well either," he replied.

"Fix them," Masquerade stared him down, which was kind of awkward since they both had on masks and couldn't really see each other's eyes.

Spectra gestured widely at the forest to indicate the group, "They can't be fixed!"

"I don't mean their personalities, I mean their brawling. Train them, threaten them, I don't care! Just get through to them that this is _not _a game and we _cannot_ afford to lose."

"Easier said than done."

"They're all pathetic."

"Well Gus here is perfectly capable of beating those lousy brawlers."

"Then why did he lose to Julie of all people? She has the ambition of a rock!"

"It was just a fluke. We _are_ the best brawlers on our entire planet."

"Your planet must be a sad, sad place."

Spectra chose to ignore that last insult in the interest of getting something done, "They said the plan starts today. We can't sit around and try to rectify all the problems the team has."

"If you go fight them like this, you're almost certain to lose."

"We can't waste time!"

"Then whatever you do to fix their brawling had better be quick."

"Masquerade!" he shouted after the Darkus brawler, who had started to walk into the forest himself.

Masquerade called back, "If you want, I could help you out…but there would be a price…"

"Why do you have to fight me on everything?!"

"Because," Masquerade slunk back over and got close to Spectra's face, "I want to make it perfectly clear who's in charge here."

"Master Spectra…"

"What is it, Gus?"

"I really cannot tolerate that guy. You ought to make him pay for the things he says to you."

"Be that as it may, it seems we do have need of him. For now. We'll play along, but if he thinks he has the upper hand, then he's in for a rude awakening."

* * *

><p>So, the Vexos were trained. If you can call it that. They spent about two hours being instructed by Spectra and Masquerade.<p>

Masquerade would have preferred Spectra be training as well, instead of helping him instruct, but the Pyrus brawler was not about to surrender control to him under any circumstances.

During the training, Alice came back and Spectra jumped at the chance to be rid of Masquerade for a while, despite the fact he was supposed to tell Alice to relinquish control to Masquerade if they happened to change during the lesson.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt," she apologized.

"It's fine. In fact, why don't you take over for Masquerade? I understand you were a strategist. I bet you could be just as helpful as Masquerade."

"I don't know…"

"No offense, but I really can't stand Masquerade," Spectra whispered to her, "so if you would not subject me to that any more than necessary…"

Alice laughed, "Okay. I guess I could try teaching for a little while."

In the end, the Vexos got two hours with Masquerade and half an hour with Alice before they gave up on training.

"Now we need to get to Vestal and stop wasting time," Spectra announced.

"Alright. Let's go."

* * *

><p>The transporter they used couldn't get them to any location more specific than somewhere in the confines of any specific city or town. Being that it was the center for everything technological they beamed their way into the Capital city, figuring that would be the first place Andrew would send the brawlers to look.<p>

Unfortunately they didn't know themselves where in the city the brawlers would be.

"Do you have any idea where there might be a lab or something with the kind of technology they're looking for?" Masquerade asked Spectra.

"The only place I know of that had it were the palace labs where my father worked. I don't know where they intend to get it. Is Andrew even sure he can get it here?"

"Who knows," Masquerade shrugged.

"Can you get a map of the city? Maybe it will show us something useful."

With a map in hand they all tried to sit down on a bench, which obviously wasn't going to work. Pushing and bickering ensued.

Volt had seen the space problem before anyone else and had refrained from the ensuing squabble by electing to stand off to the side. Gus had gotten up voluntarily to make more room for Spectra. Lync kept getting squished in the fighting and sullenly gave up his seat.

The result was that Spectra and Masquerade were in the middle, huddled over the map. Mylene was on one side crammed in between the bench's arm rest and Spectra, much to her disdain. However, it was better than being stuck next to Shadow as she had feared she would be. Shadow was on the other side next to Masquerade. Shadow didn't even want a seat (he would've been fine standing and sticking his tongue out at passerby) but he didn't want to lose the ensuing fight for one either, so he fought. But as soon as everything had settled he started to get up.

"What?! You just made us go through all that and you're not even going to sit there?!" Lync shrieked.

"Yeah. What's it to ya, shortie?" Shadow laughed crazily and towered over the Ventus brawler.

"Quiet! Can't you see we're trying to look at a map?"

"Try there in that building or the facility near the city center," Mylene quickly leaned over and pointed to two locations on the map.

Masquerade and Spectra looked at her quizzically.

"What? I've been to the capital before. I remember going into that building," she indicated the smaller one, "And the other one is a well-known lab."

"Well which should we try first?"

"The one at the center. It's bigger and that will make it a more likely target," Masquerade answered.

* * *

><p>They arrived at the facility in the city center and it was obvious they had picked the right one.<p>

Alarms were ringing, people were fleeing, and the glass doors were smashed in (even though that was completely unnecessary; they were unlocked)

"Guess we were right."

In the lobby were Runo, Shun, and Julie all holding some variation of swords or long knives and causing a complete panic.

Runo was trying to force her way into a room with a metal door while the others stood guard and kept people away.

"Where are the rest of the brawlers?" Volt asked, but the other Vexos weren't paying attention.

"Hey! Get away from that door!"

Runo and company turned to face the Vexos and Masquerade.

"Who's going to make me?" she snarled.

"Oh, look who finally showed up! You're so late you know!" Julie laughed mockingly, "Not that it matters anyway. I don't mind waiting to beat you!"

"We won't lose. Not this time."

"You're on! Shunny, come help me fight these guys!"

Shun offered Julie a glare, but set down his sword to come help her while Runo continued working on the door.

"Well don't just stand there and let her get in!" Spectra growled at his team, "Stop her!"

"Who's going to battle us? We're wait-ing!" Julie sing-songed.

"I will," Spectra said.

"I'll accept your challenge," Masquerade said.

The Pyrus and Darkus brawlers looked at each other.

"I am not teaming up with _you_" Spectra flatly refused to brawl with Masquerade, "Why don't you let Gus and I take this one?"

"You're going to make _me _sit out on a battle? Good luck with that. I am ten times better than you-no, infinitely better than you-and I never miss a battle," Masquerade retorted.

"Get on with it! Stop bickering, idiots!" Julie yelled. Shun stood there, kind of bored with the whole thing.

"Don't call Spectra an idiot!" Gus shouted back.

"Would moron be better?"

"How dare you!"

"You gonna stop me, Mr. Girl hair?"

"I do not have girl hair!"

"It's long and blue. That's almost as bad as pink."

"Hey!" Lync protested.

"I am going to brawl with Gus, and _you_ cannot stop me," Spectra turned to Masquerade, only to find Alice was back.

Her eyes were wide and she held up her hands to show she had no part in this, "I wasn't trying to. What's going on here?"

"We're trying to stop the brawlers. Gus is about to get into a cat-fight with her," Spectra pointed to Julie, "And no one can decide who gets to battle."

"You could try rock paper scissors?" she suggested with a smile.

"I'm getting tired of this stupidity. How about you help me out? At least I won't be working with Masquerade."

"What about Gus?" she asked.

"He seems preoccupied right now."

"Ah."

"We're ready!" he withdrew Helios and turned back to Julie.

"Finally!" Julie called back. Then she tapped her chin and grinned mischievously, "How about putting some stakes on this battle?"

"Like what?" Spectra asked hesitantly.

"If we win then he," Julie pointed to a bewildered Gus, "Has to go on a date with me."

"Why?" Spectra asked in exasperation.

"None of your business!" she snapped.

"And what happens if we win?" Alice asked, taking the conversation away from a bewildered Gus, who seemed at a loss for how to react to this development.

"You have to quit this stupid plan of Andrew's and come work for us," Spectra told Julie.

"Alright, but I'll never lose now! Who would want to work for you guys?" Julie smirked and then threw out Gorum, "Bakugan Brawl!"

***Battle commences. And the winners are….Spectra and Alice***

"For the record, I never agreed to quit," Shun said, and proceeded to walk back over to where Runo had finally managed to open the door.

"WHAT?" she screeched as she looked inside, "It's empty!"

Spectra looked at the other Vexos, "What were you people doing to stop her? It looks like you just stood there!"

Mylene rolled her eyes, "Can you count, Spectra?"

"What are you getting at?"

"How many Vexos do you see?" she asked impatiently.

Spectra looked around, "Where are Lync and Shadow?"

"Exactly. They broke into the air vents, and stole the stuff from the room before she could even get in there. Mission accomplished."

"How did those idiots even know what to take? And where are they?"

CRASH! Lync, Shadow, and a pile of assorted metal objects came falling out of the nearest air vent.

"Awesome!" Lync gave Shadow a high-five as the Darkus brawler cackled.

"We broke everything with that fall anyway," Lync announced, showing Spectra the smashed electronics.

"Um…good work, I suppose," Spectra said as way of response.

"Fine! You win this round, Vexos. But we'll be back!" Runo shouted, then she grabbed Shun by the arm and teleported away.

"Wait! What about me?!" Julie cried, but there was no answer.

"Going back on your word?"

"What good is a villain's word? Of _course _I was going to double cross you. But that b-"

"Enough. You're coming with us, one way or another," Spectra interrupted the angry Subterra brawler.

"Jerks."

* * *

><p>Everything had gone well for the Vexos and Alice. Except for the fact that meanwhile Dan and Marucho had broken into the other facility and had made away with the necessary equipment unopposed.<p>

"Excellent! The decoy worked perfectly! Good work, Runo. But where is Julie?" Andrew asked when everyone was back at the base, looking over the spoils from their robbery.

"She made a bet that she would join them, and she lost. Better for us anyway, now she can screw up _their_ plans."

Andrew frowned, "You shouldn't have left her there."

"And, did I mention that now we can use her for information? I've been texting her since we got back."

"Oh. That is a good plan..."

"When are we moving on to step 2?"

"Tomorrow. Go get some sleep, everyone."

**A/N: Wow that was a long chapter! But I kept my promise; I posted it within a week of the last one. If you want me to keep updating quickly, review please! What will Dan do to convince Runo not to kill him? How long will it take the Vexos to realize they've been tricked? What about Gus? All that and more in the next chapter!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Another update! This chapter is slower, but it has pairings, the arrival of the resistance (plus my lousy explanation for why the resistance wasn't in it up until this point), and a surplus of juice in boxes. Anyway, I hope you like it! And if you do, I hope you let me know in a review! I'm sorry if anyone's really OOC in this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bakugan.**

"Where have you _been?" _Andrew asked as he took in the three Vestals, who were extremely late.

"Traffic," Ace replied.

"That is the stupidest answer I've ever heard. You came here by _teleporter!" _Andrew said.

"He got us lost," Ace jerked a thumb at Baron, who nodded sheepishly.

"For two days?"

"And the stupid author completely forgot about writing us in. Talk about plot inconsistency."

Andrew face-palmed, "Thank you for that helpful explanation, Ace."

"Well, at least he isn't still singing," Mira pushed past Ace and Baron so she could enter the room, "On the way here he would not shut up! I don't even know _what _he was singing, but it was horrible!"

Ace scowled, "Be quiet. It's not like you could do any better!"

"Wanna bet?"

"There will be no singing here! This is not a karaoke lounge!" Andrew tried to calm himself down, with limited success, "Anyway I just lost Julie, so it's a good thing you all finally showed up."

"Baron's fault."

"Tomorrow I'm sending everyone on a mission-"

"Baron's fault."

"-And it's very important so I'll need to explain some things-"

"Baron's fault."

"-Stop saying that! I know it's Baron's fault!"

Andrew was starting to doubt if having more team members was going to be a good thing for him after all

* * *

><p>Dan had decided to enact his plan to keep Runo from killing him tonight, because he could not handle any more staying awake in terror (which was very amusing to Runo, and thus the reason she had not acted yet. Watching Dan freak out in anticipation was priceless) He had about half an hour before they were supposed to be asleep so they would be rested for tomorrow's mission.<p>

He was going to make up with Runo, and if all went well they would get back together and she would abandon any revenge plans. Or Julie would be wrong, Dan would die, and he would vow to haunt the Subterra brawler for the rest of her life. But that was not something Dan wanted to happen.

"What are you doing up so late?" Marucho growled, in an eternal bad mood these days, "And why do you have flowers?"

"For Runo," he grumbled, and was met with callous laughter.

"So you're going to try to charm her? _You _with the charm of a dead fish? Good luck with that."

"It was Julie's idea!" Dan yelled angrily.

"Yeah, but I never thought you'd actually go through with it. Oh well, your princess awaits, Dan," he said and started dragging him to Runo, evil grin on his usually innocent face.

"Wait! I'm not ready! I don't want to die!"

"Shut up and stop being such a baby! She's never going to buy it if you keep acting like that."

"Evil Marucho is such a jerk! I hate you!"

"The feeling is mutual, Dan, I assure you."

Once Marucho had left him, Dan tried to steel his nerves for the upcoming challenge. But Runo was just so terrifying. It would have been hard enough to do this if she were normal, let alone the rage-enhanced new Runo.

"Um, hey? Runo, are you out here?" he called, barely more than a whisper as he tried to be brave.

"What do you want?" she snapped, walking over to him.

"I'm, uh-really sorry about the things I said. And-uh, well I wanted to say that…"

"Spit it out!" she screeched and Dan jumped a little.

"I wanted to say that I'm sorry we broke up! Here! I bought you some flowers!" he half-yelled, rushing to get the words out before shoving the flowers at her and scampering away to a safe distance.

She looked at the flowers in her hand, then at the trembling, red-faced Pyrus brawler a few feet away.  
>"You're just trying to keep me from killing you over the other day, aren't you?"<p>

"No," he said, hiding his face.

"I don't believe you," she crossed her arms and set her face in a stubborn scowl, but at least she didn't seem ready to strangle him anymore.

"I wanted to get back together with you, but I guess I'm too late," Dan paused to think for a moment and then added, "It's because of Shun isn't it?"

"What are you talking about?" Runo was puzzled now.

"You're dating Shun! DON'T TRY AND DENY IT!" Dan burst out, pointing an accusatory finger at her.

"That's stupid! Where did you get an idea like that?"

"I'M NOT BLIND YOU KNOW! I MAY BE STUPID BUT-"Dan realized his error, "Wait that's not what I meant to say! I MAY BE DISTRACTED MOST OF THE TIME BUT I KNOW YOU LIKE SHUN!"

"STOP BEING AN IDIOT! IF I WAS INTO SHUN THEN I WOULD BE DATING _HIM_. BUT I'M NOT BECAUSE FOR SOME REASON THE ONLY GUY I LIKE IS _YOU_, AND YOU'RE A COMPLETE MORON!"

Then Evil Dan did something normal Dan didn't have the guts to do- he kissed her.

"Maybe you're not such a moron after all," she said, and she even smiled.

* * *

><p>The Vexos were having an impromptu party-as much of one as could be had with 7 people, a bag of off-brand potato chips, and a dozen juice boxes. Gus was <em>supposed<em> to be getting soda, but…well this was what they got for sending him out for refreshments. ("It was all they had! No I am not lying because I have a juice problem! The only one with problems here is _you!"_)

"Would you like a juice box?" Julie looked up to see Gus offering her one.

"Sure, I guess. I used to drink these when I was a little kid. Then one time I tried to freeze one, but it exploded."

"How?"

"I don't know. Everyone said it would be okay, but it did. Just my luck, I guess."

"Your luck has the possibility to defy scientific facts?"

"Stop ruining the story."

"Alright."

"So, did you ever do anything stupid as a kid?"

"No."

"You're no fun. I mean, you see this guy with all this bright blue hair wearing weird clothes and stuff and you think 'I bet that guy would be fun', but you're not fun."

"Thank you for enlightening me," he scowled.

"Oh, don't be like that! You just need to be less boring!"

Another glare, "And how do you propose I be less 'boring'?" Really, the last thing he needed was pointless conversation with this pink-obsessed Earth girl. He had just been trying to be civil by offering her some juice. He hadn't wanted her to keep talking and talking like this, on and on…

"Come on! Dance with me!" she lurched to her feet and dragged a protesting Gus with her.

"But there isn't any music!"

"That's okay! Just pretend there is!" Julie laughed and twirled around.

"I really don't get humans."

* * *

><p>Although he was surprised to see Gus dancing with the earth girl Julie, Spectra was focused on other things at the party. Namely, Alice.<p>

_Of course, it isn't as if I like her, _Spectra thought, _I merely find her more tolerable than most of the Vexos, and infinitely more so than Masquerade. She's nice to talk to, and she isn't a bad brawler. Pretty too. But I really don't like her._

"Having fun?"

"Well, your friends are…interesting…" Alice trailed off as they watched Shadow, who had followed Julie and Gus's example and was dancing. Only Shadow's dancing was a lot less…sane.

"They're not my friends," Spectra said, amending it to, "Except for Gus, of course."

"Then why are you all still together?"

"Well, Gus wanted to stay with me. Shadow refuses to go home; apparently his family doesn't approve of anything he does. As for Volt, your guess is as good as mine. Lync doesn't want to leave either, for some reason. And Mylene says, and I quote, 'You morons wouldn't last a day without me.'"

"I think they just like staying together like a family," Alice said, "It must be nice."

"Yes, if by family you mean portable mental asylum. Sometimes Mira comes over but she never stays long because it always ends with food fights over dinner, or wild animals being let loose in the house-it's a long story-or something else chaotic."

Alice laughed once she got past the wild animals part, although she made note to ask about _that _story sometime.

"How about you? Are you having fun?"

Spectra thought about that, "I'd be having more fun if we actually had anything decent to eat," he cast an unconscious glare in Gus's general direction.

"But other than that?"

"Yes, other than that this is all right."

"Do you-"

"Alice! Alice!" Lync came racing up and cut off whatever she was going to say.

"What is it, Lync?"

"Oh," Lync looked down and traced his foot around in the dirt, "I was just going to ask if you would dance with me…?"

"Okay," she shrugged and waved at Spectra as she was led off by the Ventus brawler.

"Note to self," Spectra muttered, "Make Lync's existence miserable."

* * *

><p>"Wanna dance?" Shadow flicked his tongue out as he leaned over Mylene's shoulder.<p>

She looked up from the book she was reading to scowl at him, "Not in this century."

"Okay, suit yourselfffff!" Shadow cackled before disappearing momentarily, but Mylene had no doubts he'd be back; he _always_ came back, unfortunately.

* * *

><p>Shadow didn't have a lot of options for making Mylene jealous (not that this was his greatest plan to begin with, but it certainly wasn't his worst either (see: an angry koala, five gallons of mustard, and a broken gauntlet). It was either Red or that brawler girl Julie, the one dancing with Gus. It basically came down to who Shadow wanted to bother more, Gus or Lync. He chose Gus. Lync was a regular victim, almost as much as he was Shadow's partner in crime, so Gus's reaction might be more entertaining.<p>

Unfortunately for Lync, despite being spared Shadow's wrath, he was not in luck. Someone _else _was going to mess him up.

"You're a good dancer, Alice," Lync snuck a glance at her face, something that seemed a feat in itself at this close proximity as they danced.

"Thank you. Grandfather taught me," she replied as they twirled around, neither questioning why their imaginary music was slow while everyone else's was upbeat.

When Lync looked up again, the smile vanished from his face and he jumped back in horror.

"Good. Your hands were all sweaty anyway," Masquerade remarked.

"How long have you been-"Lync backtracked, "How long has it been _you_?"

"Oh, not long. But I've been watching, and I am not happy, Lync. Do you know why I'm not happy?" Masquerade was looming over the Ventus brawler now.

"H-how should I k-know?" Lync stammered, backing up further.

"I am angry because you need to leave Alice alone."

"Why should I?" Lync snapped back, trying to stand up to Masquerade.

Big mistake, Masquerade's look got darker yet, "I can make your life very, very difficult, and I will if you don't stay away from her."

"What's it to you?"

"You're not good enough for Alice, and I don't want you anywhere near her. Are we clear?"

"Fine. Leave me alone, gosh," Lync crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, feigning indifference, however, inwardly he had no intention of giving up. He stuck his tongue out in defiance at Masquerade's retreating back. _If he wants a fight for Alice, he's got one, _Lync thought, _But I'd prefer it be more of a _mental _fight. Not that I couldn't take him! I could totally win…but I'll avoid that, just in case._

Lync was now bored, so he went over to sit next to Volt. They fell to talking (well, mostly Lync told Volt about his problems and Volt occasionally grunted encouragingly).

"So now what am I supposed to do?"

"It depends how Alice feels about the situation. If she doesn't like you it's a moot point anyway." Volt intoned, staring at the fire.

Lync blushed, "Well, maybe I can wait a while. At least he's chewing Spectra out too," he smirked as he saw the two masked brawlers arguing across the fire, but then he was worried for a moment, _Even if I can get past Masquerade, what do I do about Spectra? What if she likes _him? Lync made a face, _Of course she doesn't, what girl would like _Spectr_a? I'm clearly better than him._

Yeah, Lync would totally get Alice to like him, and show up both his egotistical feathered leader and the masked nuisance that was Masquerade. Or so he was convinced.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile Shadow cut in on Julie and Gus's dance. And by cut in I mean he went over there, shoved Gus out of the way and said, "My turn!" with a maniacal glint in his eye.<p>

Gus was outraged and was about to do something (he wasn't quite sure what yet), but Julie waved him aside.

"It's alright. I'll dance with him," she said calmly as Shadow started spinning her in a way that looked reckless if not outright dangerous.

Gus backed away from the makeshift dance floor and found himself joined by Mylene.

"I think you're supposed to be jealous," Gus told the Aquos brawler, who gave a miffed snort.

"As if I'd ever be jealous of anything that freak did. The very notion is preposterous."

Gus was going to reply that the clipped way she was speaking and the clenching of her fists seemed to suggest she _was _jealous, but he didn't get the chance.

Shadow had spotted them, and apparently he thought Gus was standing too close to her, because he came barreling toward them, pulling his disgruntled dance partner in his wake.

"Hey! Are you trying to steal my girl?!" he yelled, jabbing a finger at Gus and releasing a dizzy Julie.

"I am not ANYONE'S 'girl' and I am DEFINITELY NOT YOURS! COME OVER HERE SO I CAN SHOW YOU WHAT I THINK OF YOUR IDIOTIC, SEXIST COMMENTS!-" Mylene was now flipping out at Shadow, who didn't seem to notice in the slightest as he was still trying to threaten Gus.

"I would never be interested in _her! _The notion that I would ever go after _Mylene_ is so ridiculous I cannot believe even you would conceive of it-!" Gus's indignant reply was cut off.

It had now occurred to Shadow that Gus's rebuttal could be taken as offensive and he was happy to do so. "Are you implying there's something wrong with her?" the Darkus brawler demanded.

Great, now Shadow was acting like he had a brain. Of all the times for him to get analytical, it had to be the time Gus was insulting his taste in women, with said woman standing nearby and already in a murderous rage.

"No, of course not. If you like violent psychopaths that wear gaudy make-up and think they're better than everyone else." Gus really needed to stop talking. He was not helping himself here. But he just couldn't help being honest, no matter how bad it was looking for him right now.

"How dare you!" Shadow and Mylene looked at each other, to which Shadow let his scowl morph into a grin, and she gave a half-hearted smack in his direction, but kept her dagger-glare on Gus.

"How about we let the happy couple sort things out, Gus? I could go for another juice-box right now!" Julie announced all this in a high chirpy voice and grabbed Gus's arm to lead him away before violence could break out.

"We are not a couple!" Mylene shouted after them, but she was getting worn out from dealing with Shadow, and the retort sounded hollow

"Thank you. That was…atrocious," Gus was glad to be away from his irrational teammates and their issues, for the moment anyway.

"Don't mention it. I couldn't have them beating you up before I get to fix your wardrobe!" Julie held up a finger significantly to make her point, "Bruises would totally clash with the color scheme I have worked out."

Now the two walked in silence to find the juice boxes, with Gus worrying about the girl's plans to subject him to her sense of fashion, to discover there was only one juice box left.

"You can have it," he said with almost no trace of regret in his voice.

"We could split it," she suggested playfully, moving closer to him.

"That sounds unsanitary," he grimaced.

"Shut up, Gus. You're such a kill joy."

* * *

><p>After the party and its various occurrences Julie pulled out her cell phone and checked her messages. There were more from Runo, asking if she'd found out anything new, which was a negative. That was the thing about the Vexos, they could pretend they were all serious and business-like, but it never lasted long, and they didn't really get much done. <em>But isn't goofing off more fun? <em>Julie thought, _Almost as much fun as shopping. I wonder if I could get them to let me go tomorrow…It's always a possibility…_

She looked back to her screen and saw there was a new message about the mission. Runo had said they would be leaving tomorrow for New Vestroia to round-up Bakugan for phase two of the plan. They were set to leave at about 2. All Julie had to do was keep the Vexos away and preferably from finding out.

_Done. There's no way they'll find out. My job's as good as finished._

Except for the fact that a hand came down on her shoulder, and a voice asked, "What are you doing with that cell phone?"

_Uh oh._

**A/N: I hope my attempts at writing pairings weren't **_**too**_** horrible. Will Julie get caught? Reviews help keep the quick updates alive! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry this chapter is a little late. I lost my laptop charger for a few days, which slowed me down. I'm going to be on vacation next week, so I'm not sure if I'll update this or not. Anyway, here's Chapter 8!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bakugan. Or a turtle named Lightning.**

"Would you care to explain to me what you're doing?"

"I was texting," Julie rolled her eyes at Mylene, who was glaring down at the Subterra brawler.

"I can see that. _Who_ were you texting?"

"Gus!" Julie exclaimed, listing the first person to come to her mind.

"Hm. I'm not sure I believe you. Why don't you let me see the phone?" Mylene held out her hand.

Julie drew back fiercely, clutching the phone to her, "No way! I just cleaned the screen; I don't want your grubby fingerprints all over it!"

"I know you're hiding something. Give me that cellphone or I'll have to take it from you!" Mylene hissed.

"Nope. Sorry, no one touches my cell phone but me," Julie kept backing away slowly from her as she spoke.

Mylene was going to pursue this further when Shadow came by to interrupt and drag the Aquos brawler away. She turned to face him as he pulled her by the arm, "Let go of me, you idiot! Can't you see I'm busy?" Her attempts to break free were futile, but Mylene eyed the phone one last time, vowing to take a look at it later.

Julie kept her phone in her pocket for the next few hours, but she buried it under a pile of clothes when she got sick of carrying it around. The stupid thing kept falling out of her pocket anyway. Surely it would be safe there until she went to bed.

"What are we doing?"

"_I _am trying to find that Julie girl's cell phone. _You _are being a pest."

"Why are you taking her cell phone?"

"Because I think she's still working with the brawlers, and I want proof. It's not like Spectra can focus on anything other than himself long enough to pursue it."

"Wha's that?" Shadow asked, bounding over to investigate something by the trees.

Mylene paid him no attention, it was just like having an annoying dog, give it something to chase and it would leave you alone. And she would prefer not to have him reading over her shoulder if she did find the phone. _If he even _can _read_, _that is_, Mylene did not have a very high opinion of Shadow Prove.

She threw aside a bedazzled top, some more irritatingly pink clothing, and a handbag with the price tag still on it.

_How did she manage to bring all this stuff with her? It's not like she was expecting to get captured! There are enough clothes here to last her for weeks! _Mylene thought as she tried to comprehend the mystery that is Julie's fashion skills.

"Here it is," she bent down to pick up the phone where it had been hidden among the clothes.

She went to the inbox to check the messages, and found the plans Runo had texted Julie.

_Now it's time to do something about it,_ Mylene thought. "Shadow!" she hissed into the darkness, and he came running back carrying a turtle.

Mylene was holding back from yelling, but her voice was strained with the effort, "_Why _do you have a _turtle_?"

"I found it! His name is Lightning!"

"You cannot have a turtle. It's an inconvenience, and furthermore you'd probably kill it. Also, Lightning is not an appropriate name for a turtle because they're such slow creatures."

"Pleeeaaaseee, Mylene? Lightning needs me!"

The turtle had a black shell and it was struggling, albeit sluggishly, in his grasp. It clearly wanted nothing to do with Shadow.

"No, it's out of the question."

"PLEASE!"

"Shut up!" she hissed, clapping a hand over his mouth, "Look, someone needs to go teach those brawlers a lesson, and I was going to say you could come with me-"

"Can I drive?"

"Heck no. You are never driving me _anywhere _again. Not after you crashed that last ship."

He pouted, but adjusted his grip on the turtle and nodded seriously, "Lighting and me are ready to go!"

"'Lightning and _I'" _Mylene corrected with a sigh, but his blank expression meant he probably wasn't paying attention anyway, "Do you have your Bakugan?"

"Yeah! Why, where are we going?"

"To New Vestroia."

"We should attempt to find their base, infiltrate it and put a stop to this thing once and for all. After yesterday's success I have no doubt we can easily defeat them," Spectra said to his assembled team, minus the missing Shadow and Mylene.

"Two problems with your self-satisfied praise: One, the only people that battled were you and Alice, not your so-called team. Two, it appears we may not have been as successful as it seems at stopping them," Masquerade announced.

"What makes you say that?"

"I took a quick trip to the other facility on Vestal using my transporter card, and it was also broken into. The thieves got away with some of the equipment. It would appear we only brought down a decoy while the other brawlers got away with their robbery."

Spectra frowned, "So now they have everything they need?"

"No, they would still need to obtain the bakugan with which to carry out the plans. My guess is they'll head for New Vestroia next."

"We should still try to find them, then we'll know when they head out, and we'll be able to find out their plans instead of guessing."

Then the Vexos and Masquerade went to find the hero-villains' base.

The Vexos (sans Mylene and Shadow) plus Masquerade were outside one of the windows at Andrew's base. They could see in because the curtains were actually open that particular day. As far as Mylene and Shadow's absence, they just assumed they were lost in the woods somewhere ("Shouldn't we find them? "No. They'll just slow us down.")

Spectra was a bit shocked by what he was seeing, though.

"Now he's got _Mira _in on this?!" Spectra exclaimed.

"Looks like it. I wonder why he chose to recruit the Resistance all of a sudden?" Masquerade mused.

"Who cares? Let's just get my sister out of there!"

Masquerade tried to get Spectra to shut up, "Be quiet! They'll hear us if you keep shouting! She's fine!"

The others probably would have succeeded in quieting Spectra down, because he was still thinking reasonably about the whole situation, if Ace hadn't come in and started talking to Mira.

Well, it wasn't the talking so much that bothered Spectra. It was when Ace started making out with Mira that Spectra freaked out.

"Oh dear," Volt remarked as Spectra grappled with Masquerade under the window.

Lync was half hysterical laughing about the whole thing. Gus was trying to untangle Spectra and Masquerade. As all this went on Baron came into the room and separated the two other Resistance members. "Come on, guys, we don't have time for this! We have to get ready to leave!"

"Go away, Baron," Ace shoved him carelessly out of the way.

"No," Baron's face contorted into a scowl and he shoved Ace back, much more harshly.

"Just leave us alone Baron. You giving orders all the time is _so_ annoying," Mira whined.

"You two should grow up! I'm the one who keeps this whole group together!" Baron retorted sharply.

"All you do is yell at us all the time! You're not in charge here!" Ace interjected.

"Yeah, and you eat all the food, too! You cleaned out the whole refrigerator an hour after we got here!" Mira added, which was true. Baron had eaten a lot of food since they'd arrived.

"I am so sick of you two ganging up on me! I liked it way better when you argued with each other instead!" Baron yelled.

"Sucks for you. Now get out of here. I'm the leader of the Resistance so what I say goes," Mira crossed her arms and glared until Baron begrudgingly left the room.

From outside Lync said, "Man is she a brat."

"Look who's talking," Gus said.

"Hey!" Lync yelled, and was quickly muffled by Volt's hand.

"Well, she does seem more immature than usual. And the one with the purple hair was angrier," Volt observed.

"But the guy with the green hair was still an idiot," Gus added.

"Yeah. However, he does seem to have finally gotten the guts to confess to her instead of moping around and complaining about it," Volt said.

"Which is giving Spectra a heart attack," Lync snickered.

This earned him a glare from the still unstable Pyrus brawler. Masquerade was being forced to physically restrain him from storming in there after Mira. By some miracle no one had heard them. Or if they had they were choosing to ignore them, since they were so dysfunctional it was unlikely they would pose a threat anyway.

"Perhaps we should move to the other window. It doesn't seem like anything concerning is going on here," Volt said, still using a whisper to speak despite the others' noisy outbursts.

Spectra's cry of protest was cut off and they moved to the other window, which looked in on the main room, where the other brawlers were convened.

Andrew surveyed his team, "Are we ready to go?"

"Yes, sir," Dan replied flippantly.

"And you have the device?"

"Yep."

"Everyone's present and accounted for?"

"Of course. Stop asking pointless questions."

"They are not pointless! I am trying to be a good leader and make sure nothing goes wrong!"

"What's it matter? You're going with us, so if it does we can just blame you this time!" Dan responded enthusiastically.

"Shut up! Don't make him angry," Runo whispered.

"Moving on," Andrew let Dan's attitude go, "it's time to head to New Vestroia. Hold on to your faces."

"I think its hats, not faces…"Marucho remarked.

"Just hold on!"

Then the brawlers teleported to New Vestroia.

"Now let's follow them!" came a shout from just outside the nearest window.

The Vexos appeared seconds after the brawlers, to their shock.

The two groups stood facing each other on a flat plain of New Vestroia.

"Why can't you all just stay out of my way? What are a bunch of failure villains going to be able to do to stop me anyway? You should quit and save yourselves the disappointment," Andrew snarled, upset they'd found him so quickly.

Spectra said, "The only failure here is _you. _You're the most pathetic of us all! You don't even have a decent fashion sense!"

"Shall we settle this with a brawl?" Masquerade asked.

"Of course. Feel free to battle my lackeys," Andrew received several glares from the brawlers at being called lackeys, "I don't brawl myself."

Masquerade approached Dan for a battle, and Spectra went against his sister Mira. Lync was facing Shun, Runo was battling Gus, and Volt brawled with Baron.

**Battles commence. Winners are as follows: Masquerade, Spectra, Lync, Gus, and Volt.**

"Man, Shun, how did you lose to that guy?" Dan laughed and pointed at Lync.

"You lost too, Dan," Shun pointed out calmly, not seeming phased by the loss. It almost seemed as if he'd planned it for some reason…Nah.

"We won! We won! Did you hear me? WE ACTUALLY WON!" Lync yelled triumphantly.

"Yes, Lync, everyone can hear you."

"Give up, Andrew. You've been defeated."

"Who cares? I can still get the bakugan I need. It's not like you can stop me-" Andrew was cut off.

"What did we miss?" Shadow and Mylene appeared, holding a turtle with a black shell and looking slightly worse for wear.

"Where were you?" Spectra called out.

"What do you have there?" Andrew asked suspiciously.

Shadow held up the turtle proudly, "My turtle, Lightning. Isn't he awesome?"

Andrew stepped closer and then his eyes widened, "That's an ancient Bakugan! It hasn't been seen for centuries! Where did you get it?"

Shadow shrugged, "It's just a turtle I found in the woods."

A large, roaring voice came from the turtle, "I AM THE DARKUS BAKUGAN SHELDON! ALL WHO STAND IN MY PATH SHALL PERISH!"

"I think you should stick with Lightning. It just sounds cooler," Shadow added unhelpfully.

**A/N: So, instead of a turtle Shadow actually got a rare and powerful Bakugan. What's so special about the turtle bakugan? Will it be able to help the Vexos? What took Mylene and Shadow so long? Why did Shun lose? All that and more will be answered in the next chapter! Which may or may not be posted next week, depending on if I get enough reviews to motivate me to write it during my vacation :p**

**Review! **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Another late update! Better late than never? **

**Disclaimer: I don't own bakugan.**

Everyone was a little reluctant to believe Shadow had happened upon a legendary bakugan and more so that the bakugan looked like a garden-variety turtle.

"Why have I never heard of this Bakugan before?" Spectra asked wearily.

"Perhaps because it was supposed to be an old legend, something the bakugan told their children and such, about the dangers of messing with the core," Andrew started to explain, "Legend has it that the bakugan got its powers from a bizarre accident when it fell into the core and mutated. It gained immense power, enough to wipe a planet of all life, but it lost its mind in the process. It was summarily ostracized from bakugan society, a decision that was very controversial as some said the community would later come to regret it. The bakugan who disagreed with the decision also say the bakugan has been searching ever since for the brawling partner who will help him achieve his revenge, someone as mentally unstable as himself-"

"Shadow!" most of the Vexos realized simultaneously.

"It's a good possibility," Andrew nodded; sweat beading on his forehead as he cast a surreptitious glance at the Darkus brawler, who looked frighteningly ecstatic.

"Oh my gosh that is so cool! Look at me, freaks! I've got the bestest bakugan in the world! I'll own all of you! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Shadow yelled in a voice that did not bode well for his wavering sanity.

"I think we should confiscate it on the grounds he's likely to kill us all in a bout of stupidity," said Spectra seriously.

"I second that motion," Masquerade agreed.

Then he started to change into Alice, "Dang it," he muttered.

This caught Shadow's attention and he bounded over shouting gleefully, "Hey, Red, how about another battle?! Bet you won't be so lucky this time!"

"Get away from her. Stop being a creep," Spectra stepped between the two.

"Hey who you callin' a creep?!" Shadow protested loudly, waving his arms around in outrage.

Andrew's team exchanged glances of mutual annoyance. Couldn't the Vexos stay focused on the task at hand for a few minutes?

"This is getting tedious, but we cannot challenge them if he has such a powerful bakugan. An endeavor like that would be suicide on our part," Marucho informed the rest of his side with grudging defeat.

"I refuse to just walk away from this. I will not have my plans thwarted by the likes of him!" Andrew screamed and stomped his foot.

The others stared at their leader losing his composure. What was the big deal? They'd already lost for the day. Why not leave, regroup, and try again later?

Andrew's childish behavior was much to Shun's advantage, if he chose to continue with his plans. He smiled imperceptibly and watched as Andrew dug his own grave.

"Master Spectra, I believe we now have the advantage. I think they will be too afraid of retaliation from Shadow's new bakugan to pursue a fight. We should press on and end this."

"That would be wise, Gus. We just need to get Shadow to agree with all of this. Which is easier said than done, I'm afraid."

"Why don't you have _Mylene_ ask him?" Lync said, grinning a Cheshire grin, "He'll listen to her."

"What are you insinuating, you miserable little twerp!" Mylene growled.

"Oh, nothing," he said innocently.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but it would be in your best interest to shut up. And we all know that's what you care about most."

Spectra rolled his eyes, "Can we get back to business? I really don't give a crap about your personal lives."

"Well that was rude," Mylene scoffed.

"Shut up, Spectra," Lync tossed out offhandedly, and Spectra's eyes lit with fire.

"And that is why you don't tell him to shut up. Think next time, weasel," Lync was told after Spectra had put him in his place. Spectra was certainly not going to be a door-mat leader like that pathetic Andrew. If there was one thing that worked well in the Vexos it was Spectra's position as leader. And if the others ever started doubting that he had Gus to back him up.

"How long will it take to collect sufficient bakugan for the plan?" Andrew whispered to Marucho, who was in charge of some of the more technical parts of the plan, as he was still the smartest one there.

"Fifteen minutes tops. I've designed the capturing mechanism to be highly efficient," he replied and adjusted his mask as he would usually do with his glasses. The mask was hard to see through, it wasn't fitted with prescription lenses, and it acted like sunglasses, which was a real pain indoors. Basically, it was not a functional outfit, much to Marucho's chagrin.

"Hey! They're doing something!" Shadow pointed out. Eyes bulged, but the Vexos did turn to the villains, who were caught red-handed.

"Keep them away from the machine!" Andrew shouted and then all heck broke loose.

There was running, hair pulling, scratching, fist fights, and every other manner of squabbling as the Vexos tried to reach the machine and the brawlers tried to hold them back.

Julie ran around yelling "Not in the face! Not in the face!" and blocking her visage with her hands. No one was really concerned with her though, since she was neither defending nor attacking the machine. Lync was doing some strange looking karate moves, not that he was hitting anyone, but it was sure distracting.

"You don't know any kind of martial arts, moron!"

Dan was throwing food at people, of course. There was a general consensus to steer clear of Runo, who was rampaging about. Volt stuck out his foot to trip opponents as they rushed by, but otherwise continued to read a book he'd picked up. Andrew was hiding, Marucho was cursing people out in creative ways, Mylene was shoving people out of her way as she stalked toward the machine, but always getting waylaid by others causing mayhem. Alice was at a loss in such fighting, and the only time she contributed anything was when Runo ran into her and fell down. However, it was made less effective by the fact that she helped her up afterward and apologized. Gus and Spectra were working together, guarding each other's backs and fighting their way toward the machine. They made it as far as Shun, but no one was able to get past the ninja.

The Darkus brawler of the Vexos, the one with the legendary bakugan and unstable mental constitution, was nowhere to be found.

Once the machine had finished collecting bakugan, much to the creatures' dissatisfaction (Couldn't the bakugan ever get a break? They were never allowed to have a vacation or just relax. They needed to have a strike or something, darn it!), Andrew's team packed up and teleported back to the base.

When the machine was once again safe, and everyone was catching their breath after that chaotic mission, Shun motioned to Marucho, and the little blond boy shoved Andrew out of the way unceremoniously.

"What are you doing?" he grumbled, but stepped aside to watch as Shun took center stage, so to speak.

"I think we can all agree that Andrew has been an unprofessional, deplorable, appalling, contemptible leader, which is why I'm taking over."

"Woooo! Go Shun! Hey, buddy, can you tell me what all those big words meant?"

"Not now, Dan," the Ventus brawler rolled his eyes.

"All in favor of Shun as the new leader!" Marucho announced, raising his fist in solidarity.

Dan nodded stupidly, while Runo steamed and Andrew contemplated retaliation.

"All opposed?"

"That would be me," Runo growled and walked up to stare Shun down. Andrew had also raised his hand as he was clearly opposed, but no one really cared what he thought.

"Have you been living under a rock this entire time? Don't you know that _I'm_ supposed to be the leader? Who are you to challenge ME!?"

"That's enough, Runo. If you don't want to stay a part of this team you're perfectly free to leave," Shun stated calmly.

Runo shoved him angrily, her face bright red in anger, "Come on! Fight me! We'll see who deserves to be leader!"

Shun just stood there, immobile as she lashed out at him until she was breathless and exhausted.

"Fine! Then battle me and we'll settle this," Runo said.

*Battle commences. The winner and new leader of the heroes-turned-villains is….Shun*

Runo whirled out of the base in a fiery storm of rage that even Dan the Pyrus master had to envy.

Marucho turned to their new leader, "So, Shun, what do we do now?"

"Plan how to crush our enemies and send their souls into the abyss," Shun said in a monotone.

"Can we have lunch first?" Dan said.

"I told you we should've kicked him out too," Marucho rolled his eyes.

"Hey!" Dan protested.

Through all this Andrew stood awkwardly, not sure how to or if he could take back control.

"I think you should probably leave, Andrew. I must thank you for making all this possible. Now I can finally achieve my full potential and stop Dan from running the brawlers into the ground with his imbecilic ways."

"You really were meant to be a villainous leader, weren't you?"

"That's one theory, yes. Now get out."

Andrew slunk toward the door in disgrace, but turned at the last second, "All right, I'll leave…but I'm taking my evil ray with me!" he lunged for the device, surprisingly portable, and made out the door with it before even the ninja knew what was happening.

"Let him go. We'll still obliterate them."

"But not before cheese sandwiches!" Dan piped up from the background.

"How is he the leader? _How?_" Shun wondered, to which Marucho just shrugged.

"What are we going to do about Shadow's bakugan?" Spectra said to the group.

"Confiscate it. He's been trying to challenge me to a battle since we left. And I may be the best Ventus brawler in history, but I'm not messing with that thing!" Lync said.

"Thank you for that helpful insight, Lync. Couldn't we use this bakugan to our advantage, though?"

"The question is how do we use it without unleashing its power and destroying the world ourselves?" Alice asked.

"Well, we'd still beat Andrew…" Spectra trailed off.

"Spectra!" Alice yelled.

"It's only Earth! We could get off in time! And it's not like you couldn't come too, Alice."

He was met with a glare, and for a moment he thought she was turning into Masquerade. But no, it was Alice's indignation and anger that he would even suggest dooming Earth.

"Yeah, Spectra, how could you say something like that?" Lync shouted, realizing Alice was upset by the statement.

"Well, I might have an idea…" Volt said and everyone turned to him expectantly.

"Hey, where _is _Shadow?" Mylene asked.

"Crap."

**A/N: So Shun has taken over, Andrew ran off with the ray, and Shadow has disappeared with an insane bakugan that could wipe a planet of all life. The Vexos are going to have a lot to deal with. Anyway, there aren't going to be that many more chapters. I'm thinking 2-3 more to get through the final battle and one more to conclude it. I would say that reviews make the process go faster, but you all know by now I'm just lousy at updating. Despite that, I hope you'll drop a review and let me know that everyone hasn't given up on this story. Pretty please?**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I know you might not believe me because I've done it so many times, but I'm once again sorry about the horribly long wait for this chapter. Thank you to everyone who is still bothering to read this story. I apologize in advance for some people being kind of OOC this chapter, particularly Mylene and Shadow. Read on!**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Bakugan.**

Chapter 10:

Shadow wasn't lost, exactly. He wasn't sure where he was, but it didn't seem like a bad place to be all things considered. Besides, it wasn't like he was lonely. His new bakugan had been talking to him all morning, sometimes the suggestions seemed a bit menacing, but he was convinced the bakugan wasn't so bad after all. What troubled him was the opinion of all of his teammates that his possession of the bakugan would lead everyone to their untimely demise. He wasn't a bad guy, okay so he was a villain, but he wasn't really _evil. _More like a brawler with the scales tipping slightly to the insanity side, who had a penchant for dressing in black because clearly he's a darkus brawler. What do they think he is, some kind of nut job that wants to destroy the world and kill everyone?

"I'm not that stupid," Shadow muttered to himself as he threw yet another rock into the water, making a large splash and scaring away a bright orange fish.

"Ooh! That fish looked like a Magikarp!" he exclaimed, and then realized he hated Magikarp and it wasn't really exciting at all, "Stupid Magikarp. Why can't you be a Gyardos?!"

"You have to admit you do appear crazy sitting there yelling at a fish about Pokémon. All I'm gonna say. But have you given any thought to my proposition? I haven't had a good battle in years. Don't you want to see all that legendary power unleashed?" His bakugan, Lightning, as he preferred to call him, (although the bakugan had vehemently rejected the nickname many times already) said.

"I think this calls for ice cream."

"Why? Your companions are gearing up for a fight that will determine the fate of several planets, you just gained control of a legendary power, and you think ice cream will help anything?"

"Nope. I just want some ice cream," Shadow declares, sticking out his tongue and running over to an ice cream stand set up along the waterfront. The cashier is already wary as she saw him seemingly talking to himself, but money is money and as soon as she gives him the ice cream she is relieved that he departs quickly.

"Maybe I should go back. Eh, let 'em worry a bit longer. Psycho's got a crazy bakugan. Bleh."

"Clearly they don't understand you. But you don't have to depend on them anymore; together we could rule the world. With my power and your brawling ability, they'll all bow down before us. You can have anything you want!"

"No thanks. I've got my own plans."

"You'll come around. When you feel helpless, you'll seize the power I've offered like a lifeline," Sheldon/Lightning replied, and then continued in a sinister undertone, "And then my reign of terror will begin."

* * *

><p>"If we don't find him soon we're going to have to leave him behind," Masquerade said.<p>

"But we can't trust leaving him alone. For all we know the idiot's half way to unleashing that bakugan's power and obliterating Earth already," Spectra argued.

"At noon tomorrow Shun is going to let loose the bakugan on the city and try to finish this. We don't have time to hunt down Shadow," Masquerade countered.

"Go make your plans. How hard can it be to find one moron in this city? I'll be back before dark," Mylene snapped and then stalked off.

She wasn't sure where to look first. She knew Shadow had a penchant for food, so she thought it would be best to check out any nearby restaurants. Sadly, she searched in vain. Soon she was sweating under the 'cursed earth sun' as she called it, much to the bewilderment of other pedestrians, and had to stop to rest in a café. "I don't know what they're all so worried about. So what if it's Shadow, surely he isn't that stupid that he would jeopardize the whole planet," she said to herself as she tried the earth beverage known as a latte. She decided it was good, but there was no way she would get hooked on it like Gus had with the humans' "juice in boxes". As she was sitting at the café, she happened to overhear a woman at another table talking:

"Earlier when I worked my shift at the ice cream stand, you know the one by the lake? When I was working there was some creepy guy with strange red eyes and spiky white hair yelling at the fish."

"Weird," her friend commented. And Mylene stopped paying attention. She had all the information she needed. Knowing Shadow, if he had found something to keep him entertained down by the lake he would still be there.

* * *

><p>"It's fortunate you were able to create a serum to replicate the effects of the ray that bumbling idiot stole," Shun commended Marucho, who grinned proudly at the new vial he'd just made. The liquid was a greenish sludge, and it would serve the role of turning the captured bakugan evil for their rampage through the city.<p>

"Are you going to elaborate on this plan of yours now?" Marucho asked the Ventus brawler impatiently.

Shun cast an icy glare his way, "Let's not waste words. When the time comes, you'll know."

"Fine," Marucho grumbled, along with a few choice expletives when he was out of Shun's earshot.

In the meantime Dan was sitting by the window and staring out at the yard, missing a certain girl with blue hair. "I wonder what Runo's doing right now?" he said quietly. Marucho, who walked by at that moment, let out a scoff and commented that Dan looked like a love-sick teenage girl. Dan responded with the brilliant retort, "Shut up!" Then he went back to staring at the window so Marucho wouldn't notice the red on his face at being caught thinking about Runo.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean you aren't coming back? That's not the answer I'm looking for, imbecile!"<p>

"Sorry, Mylene. Lightning and I decided it's too dangerous. Everyone thinks I'll just screw it up."

"I decided no such thing. Let's go battle so I can unleash mayhem on the world! I mean, don't listen to what other people think, Shadow. Obviously they're just jealous of the power you now have at your disposal," Lighting argued.

"Since when did you decide to start thinking logically?"

"I can be normal, too. I just choose not to be," Shadow stuck his tongue out for the umpteenth time, but Mylene thought he sounded genuinely put out.

With a melodramatic sigh she sat down next to the Darkus brawler, careful to keep her feet back from the water's edge and rolled her eyes as she said, "If this is what it's going to take to get you to go back, just tell me what's bothering you."

"Well…" and Shadow began to tell the tale:

"My parents are really into the whole 'noble' thing," Mylene looked a bit surprised to hear that Shadow of all people was some kind of noble, but she kept silent, "And they're not exactly thrilled with their only child acting like, well, me. As soon as they heard about the Vexos they couldn't wait to ship me off. They thought brawling was the only way I could ever be useful to them. I don't really care what they think most of the time. Why should I? But sometimes…I wish people would just be okay with me the way I am. They don't have to like me, but would it kill them to have a little more faith than thinking I'm such a disaster that I'd use this bakugan and destroy the world?"

It was a very un-Shadow-like speech indeed. But hey, even broken clocks are right twice a day.

"So you want people to accept you for the lunatic you are," Mylene commented, "That's stupid. You don't need to be accepted. You just need to be feared. Better yet, you need to get power. Then you can show everyone who ever doubted you what for."

Shadow once again surprised her by asking his own question instead of cackling manically or giving some other typical Shadow response, "Why are you like that? Why is power so important to you?"

Then Mylene felt compelled to tell her story as well, "That's what my mother always taught me. She's always been a bit of a control-freak, kind of domineering. I think that's the reason my father left. I never heard from him after my tenth birthday, and the last thing he ever said to me was that I was just like her, and that he was glad I wasn't his responsibility anymore. You could say I don't have fond memories of him. My mother showed him, though. She kept the name and the prestige that went with it, she kept the money, and she kept the house. After he left she only reinforced her lessons more: Don't trust anyone, value power above all else, and know that all men are idiots. Yeah, she was a little bitter. She wanted me to be Queen or something, but I told her it wasn't happening after I met Prince Hydron. No way would I ever marry that brat. She relented, said I should just work hard, win every battle, and become the King's top aid or something. Of course, when the brawlers ruined our plans she cut off all contact. Guess I'm as good as an orphan now. But who needs a family? I still know what to do. Once I get power I can stick it to everyone who ever wronged me. Which is why I need a new plan. But it definitely won't involve this saving the world crap Spectra's trying to force on us. Be a hero? I've always been a villain. Just ask my father. Ask the children I went to elementary school with. Switching sides isn't something I can do. All I've ever done is wrong, evil, villainous. Trying to be the good guy for once would just be an invitation for more failure. And I do not do failure," she said.

For a while they sat in silence, both wondering why they had felt compelled to share their issues with one another.

"I think you're the one whose philosophy is stupid. If all you chase after is power, and then all you use it for is revenge, you'll never be happy," it seemed like the relatively smart Shadow was back. This was strange considering Spectra had confiscated all the aspirin any of them had to avoid a repeat of the earlier incident.

"At least I don't want to be accepted. I don't care what people think about me."

"I think you have a deep-seeded fear of abandonment. But that's okay."

"What are you babbling about? Do you think you're some kind of shrink now?" Mylene snapped.

"It's okay because I won't leave you. Promise."

"Stop being a moron for two seconds," she smacked his arm and turned to leave, "We have to go back."

Shadow looked at her curiously, then shrugged and followed her lead.

Before they had gone a few yards she called back to him, "You may be a disgusting, crazy, strange, psychotic, annoying person, but I recognize that and…that's okay. I don't hate you as much as I hate some of the others. Tell anyone this and I'll shoot you."

"See! You love me just the way I am!" Shadow exclaimed with a typical Shadow cackle.

The reaction from Mylene to the use of the words 'you' 'love' and 'me' by Shadow in the same sentence would haunt his nightmares for weeks. But that didn't stop him from seeing this whole thing as a victory. A small step toward melting the Ice Queen's frozen heart.

* * *

><p>"Please move over."<p>

Julie moved even closer to the distressed blue-haired Subterra brawler.

"I meant the other way," Gus said in annoyance.

"Lighten up, Gus," Julie batted her eyes at him playfully, "For all you know we're soul mates,"

"I highly doubt _that_," Gus retorted, keeping his arms crossed and his posture stiff as he leaned away from her as far as the log they were sitting on would allow.

"Okay, maybe not. But how do we know that, Gussy, unless you give me a chance?"

Gus's face was one of both mortification and extreme irritation as he answered, "Do not call me that, let go of my arm, and leave me ALONE."

Julie pouted and stuck out her tongue, traipsing off to who knows where in disappointment.

"You're a real lady-killer, Gus. Chasing pretty girls away like that. Are you afraid, or is it because you're still hung up on Spectra?" Lync said, sitting down next to the long-suffering Subterra brawler.

"I am not afraid of anything, weasel. Furthermore your idiotic remarks about my relationship with Spectra being anything more than professional are just that; idiotic and untrue. Also, I don't think you have any room to talk. How's your Alice problem going? Have you finally decided to give up because you know you can't compete with Spectra?"

"Shut up!" Lync howled, standing up and kicking the log angrily before stomping off.

"I have a way with people, don't I?" Gus muttered to himself, taking a long pull on a juice box and sighing in exasperation.

* * *

><p>The next morning Mylene had still not returned with Shadow, but the other Vexos and Masquerade all acknowledged that it was too late to wait for them any longer.<p>

As they were preparing to depart Spectra approached Masquerade and tried to keep the loathing out of his tone at the thought of talking to the masked brawler, "Can I speak to Alice for a moment?"

"No," Masquerade said bluntly.

"I'm not going to say please if that's what this ridiculousness is about," Spectra snapped.

"I couldn't care less about your lack of manners."

"She'll resurface eventually. I can wait."

"I'll try and sway her towards Lync," Masquerade threatened mockingly.

"I don't know what you're insinuating."

"Stop pining after Alice and focus on the task at hand, bird brain. Honestly, I don't know what she could ever see that's worthwhile in any of you peasants."

"Peasants? What, are you pretending to be some kind of nobility now? Just shut up and stop being a nuisance." Spectra said offhandedly.

"Nuisance! You wouldn't have even known about this whole thing unless I'd told you. I'm not the one fooling myself into thinking I'm a great leader with lots of authority, when all I'm capable of is parading around in a haughty manner and leading a group of misfits and incompetent fools straight for the nearest cliff! If you think you can do this without me, I'd like to see you try."

There was a challenge in Masquerade's smirk, and Spectra could not ignore him any longer. This was going to end one way, and that was with Spectra as the victor.

"You have no idea what I'm capable of," Spectra hissed, and with that he pulled out the replacement crowbar Gus had finally remembered to buy.

_Thunk_.

**A/N: Once again, apologies for any OOCness. I want to promise the next chapter (which will be the second to last one in this story) will be up sooner, but I don't want to jinx myself again xD**

**Review please! Maybe I'll be inspired to write faster xD**


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